A tech to trace your missing ‘smart’ wallet

Well, Cuir Ally is coming to the rescue of those unlucky enough to lose both at one go.

The Chennai-based startup has devised solutions by which one can locate one’s possession using bluetooth or radio frequency identification (RFID) tech nology.

For customers like Ankit in Delhi it proved to be a face saver when he went on his first date.

“I’d got into my car and was about to leave when I got a notification on my iPhone reminding me to take my wallet along. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to show up for the date without the wallet,” says Ankit.

And he is one of the 5700 customers who bought the product since December 2016.

Founders T S Sathyaraj and A Kannan “If its the wallet that’s lost, the customer gets notifications on their phone.If its the phone lost, then your wallet starts beeping. And what if both are lost? Then you can always track location by connecting to our Cuir Ally Smart Voyager from a laptop, tablet or desktop,” says Sathyaraj.

“I have about 20 years experience in the leather industry and Kannan has travelled a lot, so he handles marketing. We have personally experienced how nightmarish it can be to lose one’s phone or wallet. We usually have our driving license, PAN card, bank debit and credit cards. If we lose them, we have to apply all over again and its a lengthy, arduous procedure,” says Sathyaraj, co-founder, Cuir Ally.

“It is a very unique initiative. And it is not surprising that this has seen so much interest from the general public. They also have STARK, a slim unisex wallet that uses RFID technology to keep credit and debit card details secure,” says Ranganath Thota, founder and CEO, FuelADream.

“Our wallets are manufactured out of a factory 20 km from Ambattur, close to Thirunindravur. We have current outsourced the manufacturing. Our core team deals with sourcing leather, design and production,” says Sathyaraj.

Currently, the wallet made out of pure leather is sold in three colours at black, brown and blue at `3,499.

Available at a discount on FuelADream, about 432 customers have already taken their pick.

“We are also looking at getting shelf space at other retail outlets,” says Sathyaraj.